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I went to a baby shower today, it was Mara’s, and it was all vegan all gluten free. FABULOUS! It wasn’t potluck, a few of us made the dishes. I brought a few things that all were received well, and finished off. That’s always a good thing! After many requests for this cheese recipe I said it would be easier if I just shared it on here. In some of the pictures you will see 2, but I halved this recipe, so it only makes one. And, without further adue… ENJOY!!

Put cashews in a container and fill with filtered water about 3 inches of water over the cashews.
10-12 hours, drain the water and rinse out with cold water. Rinse and dump a few times to get the cashews all cleaned off. Fill with filtered water again, a bit over the top of the cashews. Let them soak again for another 6-8 hours (could be 12 if you are busy) the time isn’t real strict. You are just trying to make sure they are completely soaked and softened, makes the cheese nice and creamy. Even if you have a high power blender.
After they are done soaking (total 16-24 hours), drain the liquid, rinse out again using cold water, rinse and drain until water is clear.

In your blender, combine cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice, sea salt and water. Blend on high for 45 seconds or so, stop, scrape down the sides and lid. Blend again on high, for 2 minutes.

Scoop out the cashew mixture into the center of an 8-10 inch triple layered
piece of cheese cloth (3 pieces of cheese cloth on top of each other), roll the cheesecloth over the cheese to cover it completely forming it into a ball or loaf.
Twist the ends of the cloth and secure with rubber bands or twist ties. Set it in the strainer over a bowl and let it stand for 18-24 hours at room temperature. After about 8 hours I usually add a folded up paper towel under it to help soak up some of the slight liquid.

After the (fermenting) time is up, discard the excess water (and paper towel if you used it) and place in the fridge, for at least 3 hours.

(*You can also do the following steps with the cranberry and dill and then refrigerate afterwards for several hours*)

Chop the cranberries and dill, the smaller the better.
On approximately 12” x 12” piece of parchment (or wax paper), sprinkle dill loosely, most in the middle. Place the cheese in the center on the dill, letting it stick to the cheese. Flip it over to get dill on the other side. Use your hands and lightly press the dill all over the cheese. Do the same thing for the cranberries so that both the dill and cranberries are all around the cheese.
Fold the edges of the parchment paper over the cheese, place in the fridge letting it rest on the side with the most layers. If you want to dig in to it immediately that’s perfect too!
I recommend a sturdy cracker. Van’s or Mary’s are good choices.

Around here young coconuts have been on sale, which is perfect since Emisha, myself and another good friend Jackie have been doing a detox/reboot. Of course you would want to know what kind! Simply put its a no processed food super low sugar vegan grab free diet. Very much body ecology with a vegan slant. Very alkaline. We are doing it for 2 weeks and then seeing how that treated us.
Back to the coconuts. I’ve been making my own (raw) coconut yogurt and had to share. A lot of these directions depend on what the insides of your young coconut are like. Some have a lot more meat than others, some are a lot drier as well. But I took pictures of mine so you have an idea what I was working with.

After all blended, put in glass containers, covered but not sealed, on the countertop to ferment. Cheesecloth works well, I put the lid of the container over it and just don’t twist it on at all. It needs air to go through it’s process. It will expand and expand and EXPAND if it doesn’t have air. I’ve found that no more than 12 hours is best, but it also depends on the temperature in the room. I’ve done 6-9 hours as well. Watch it and taste it, it’s done when you like it. After it’s done, put it in the fridge, now it can be sealed. Usually mine keep fermenting, good probiotics, so make sure you consume it decently soon.

**If you are trying to do an all alkaline or a candida diet friendly recipe, opt for stevia (and for less calories). If not, you can use a bit of maple syrup or coconut sugar, but if you do it during the blend it will make your yogurt ferment quicker.